You Can't Take the Sky from Me
by CoriandHopeAgainsttheWorld
Summary: Cori and Hope are sisters; they have always had each other's back no matter what life throws their way. But what happens when life starts throwing zombies? And what will happen when they meet everyone's favorite rednecks and the rest of the Atlanta group? I'm not great at summaries but hopefully you won't let that stop you from checking it out. Daryl/OC and OC/OC. Chapter 2 up!
1. Forward

So this is the beginning of our story, there are two of us co-writing it. The story takes place in a slightly alternate universe, assuming that life goes on once the walkers start to thin out. We wanted the story to be different, and neither of us had read anything like this before. We start out in the future and then go back to the time period when the show takes place. So let us know what you think, we love constructive feedback and ideas! - Cori

**Forward: The Miranda Safe Zone**

_Miranda: a name of Latin origin, meaning worthy of admiration, respect, or awe. _

Standing just outside the gates of Fort Miranda didn't exactly fill passersby with awe. Miranda was a small settlement nestled on about four square miles of land and was home to less than 250 survivors. It was surrounded by an old fashioned stockade fence made of thick logs.

Once inside it was a humble town, consisting mostly of log cabins for homes, albeit some more elaborate than others. The few official buildings including: a sheriff's office, school, post office, a market, a medical clinic, and an inn.

While the main danger from the walkers had ended years ago, the world had never quit returned to the way it had been before the wildfire outbreak. The "end of the world" had changed people; some had shown their true colors during the outbreak and had maintained their survival of the fittest attitude long after it was warranted.

Others had been scarred by losses during the outbreak and preferred to continue with the nomadic lifestyle, never wanting to be tied down anywhere or get too attached to people.

Several small, well-fortified towns had begun forming throughout the former United States within a couple years of the main outbreak; some new, some in the ruins of smaller existing towns. Most towns' population never rose above a few hundred, the memories of the big cities and how quickly they had been overrun still fresh in people's minds.

Now, about ten years after the initial outbreak, life went on. Most towns had some form of electricity, although it was reserved for the more important uses and in some places was more rudimentary than others.

Cars and other vehicles where a thing of the past for the most part, fuel supplies having run out long ago.

Livestock was a valuable commodity, and most towns fought to protect and maintain what livestock they could find.

A large portion of the survivors maintained the belief that the human race had been out of control and that wildfire had been the result. A return to the basics and a simpler lifestyle had been one of the results.

Fort Miranda or the Miranda Safe Zone as it was known in the beginning, had been one of the first towns to form and was still a main stop on trade routes and for travelers. The Matthews family belonged to the second category; they were just passing through and had decided to stay at the Firefly Inn located in Miranda.

William Matthews walked into the Firefly just before sunset to find the inn keeper, a man who was probably in his mid to late thirties, sweeping the floor of an empty dining room.

"Hello," He said softly, weary from a long journey.

"Hi there! Just dinner or are you looking for a room?" The inn keeper asked cheerfully.

Bill smiled at him, "Both, and my family will be joining me shortly."

The inn keeper smiled and turned toward the direction of the kitchen, "Avery!"

Moments later a young boy who couldn't have been more than eight years old appeared from the kitchen. Upon seeing a stranger he wiped his hands on his shirt and smoothed his blond hair back, "Yes Uncle Merrill?"

"Show this man to one of the empty rooms," The inn keeper instructed the young boy.

Avery turned back to Bill, studying him with the bluest eyes the older man had ever seen before looking back at the inn keeper, "All the rooms are empty Uncle Merrill."

The inn keeper chuckled before sending his nephew and the stranger off.

Later that evening Bill and his family were sitting around one of the long tables with the inn keeper. Bill's wife Ruby was sitting by his side, her long greying hair pulled up into a tight bun. Their son Logan and his wife Joy were sitting across the table, taking turns holding their baby daughter Riley so that they could both have a chance to eat.

"Sorry you'll have to suffer through my cooking, my wife usually handles the kitchen but she is staying with a friend of hers who just had a baby," Uncle Merrill said from his spot at the head of the table.

Joy chuckled, "Your cooking is just fine. So Mr. Merrill, the lady at the market said you were with the group that founded Miranda."

"Yes I was," He said with a smile, "We've been here for… eight and a half years now."

Logan sighed and bounced his daughter, "Must be nice. Most other settlements didn't form that early, what made you decide to settle then? And what made you decide to settle here?"

Uncle Merrill smiled, "That my friends is a long story."

Bill leaned back in his chair and stretched out his arms, "We are planning on resting here a couple of days, and we've got nothing but time."

"Alright," The inn keeper thought for a moment, "Like most good stories it starts with a beautiful woman…"


	2. Chapter 1

So here's chapter 1, let us know what you think! - Cori

**Chapter 1: The Redneck and the Huntress **

Cori watched as the deer raised its nose too sniff the air. She froze, doing her best not to make a sound to alert the animal to her presence. Once she could tell that the deer's brief moment of paranoia had passed, she slowly began to rise to her full height from her spot behind the bushes at the edge of the clearing.

"I swear this is nothing personal, Bambi," She mumbled under her breath as she reached back and pulled an arrow from her quiver, "But you know, mouths to feed."

She had her shot lined up, ready to ruin a beloved children's movie for herself to feed her "family", when the deer took off like its little tail was on fire.

Her first thought was that a walker was coming her way, until she heard the voices. She dropped to her knees, using the bushes for cover and hoping that she was right in assuming that they would come into the clearing in front of her. She quickly pulled her hair back into messy pony tail, once again dreading her choice of self-expression. "Believe me, if I had gotten the memo that the world was going to heck I would have died my hair a normal color and thought twice about piercing my nose," She mumbled under her breath.

"Wait wait wait, if she was alone in the woods, how do you know what she was thinking and saying to herself?" Logan asked, with one eyebrow raised.

Uncle Merrill just laughed, "I have known these people for years, we've spent almost every day together for over eight years and I've heard them tell these stories a million times, now can I tell my story or not?"

With no further objections the inn keeper returned to his story, "Now where was I…

Normally Cori was all for standing out and being different, but trying to hide in the woods with bright green highlights in her black hair and worrying that the sunlight might catch her nose ring the right way was nerve-racking to say the least.

Trying to avoid the walkers was bad enough, but she had also learned pretty quickly that the living could be just as dangerous. Other than her family and the rest of the group, she did her best to avoid contact with other survivors.

Once her hair was secured, she readied her bow again, just in case. Once it was ready, she tuned into the strangers conversation as they approached.

"Gees little brother, lighten up, 'T was jus' a joke." The first man said as he came into sight. He was tall, a bit older and had short whitish-blonde hair. His white wife-beater was stained with dirt and god only knows what else and his jeans and tan over shirt looked like they had certainly seen better days.

After the first man's comment, a second man stalked into view. He was younger than the first and much quieter as he moved through the forest. He had darker hair, and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. His hand tensed into a fist and then relaxed as he spun around, lowering his crossbow as he talked to the man who was apparently his brother, "Yeah, ha ha ha. Next time I'm gonna leave both of ya back at camp, I hunt better on my own anyhow."

Cori was about to sneak back to camp, when the weight of what the man had just said hit her. He said "both", so where was redneck number three? The question had barely occurred to her before she got her answer, she felt the end of a gun being pushed against the back of her head before she ever heard anything to indicate that he was there.

"How 'bout you drop your weapon and put your arms up? Nice an slow," A male voice from behind her requested in a tone that made the request sound more like an order. Although he obviously had a southern accent, his pronunciation and the lack of slang made him stand out in comparison to his companions.

"Hey Daryl!" The gunman called to the men in the clearing, "I found something you're gonna want to see."

Cori took this moment to comply with the gunman and lay her bow down, it would probably be better if his friends didn't come over to see her pointing a weapon at them

"Wha' is it?" The man she assumed was Daryl replied.

She cursed under her breath as the man approached, his crossbow loaded and ready. She was mad at herself for not waiting for Hope to be ready to come with her that morning, but at the same time glad she wasn't here to lecture her for "talking like a sailor".

The man she now knew as Daryl took half a step forward before stopping and giving the man behind her a suspicious look, "Another rabbit?"

The gunman chuckled, confirming Cori's assumption that there was a story there, "If it is, it's one weird little bunny rabbit."

Daryl raised an eyebrow at Alex as he continued to inch toward the bush that his best friend was standing behind, "wha's that mean?"

"Stand up little rabbit," He instructed, and a moment later Cori rose from the bushes. He took a moment to look her over, she seemed harmless enough. She was average height for a girl, fairly skinny but she definitely had curves, and her eyes where nearly as blue as his. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail, making the green highlights pop even more and doing a little bit better at hiding the fact that her naturally blond hair had grown out in the two weeks since the walkers appeared.

"Who're you?" He asked, raising a bow in her direction.

She stared at him for a moment before replying, "I might be more inclined to answer if I weren't being threatened from all sides."

"Stop pointing tha' at the lady," Merle said with a laugh unique to him, "'Sides what's she gonna do ta us?"

Reluctantly, Daryl lowered his crossbow and nodded for Alex to do the same. She slowly lowered her arms, glancing at the ground by her feet where her bow lay for a moment before deciding against going for it just yet.

"They lower'd their weapons, now I believe ma brother asked fer yer name sugar," Merle continued.

She studied Merle for a moment before once again glancing into the bushes by her feet.

"Whatcha keep look'n at?" He finally asked.

Cori opened her mouth to say something, but Alex beat her to it. "This," he replied simply as he bent down and retrieved an expensive looking professional black and green long bow.

Now the trace of fear in the younger girl's defiant eyes was replaced with anger, "Give me my bow back," She said simply. Alex chuckled and held the bow up out of her reach, and causes her to curse under her breath as she tried to get it from the much taller man.

"Now now little rabbit, simmer down," Alex instructed, the smirk on his face in direct contradiction to the serious tone in his voice.

Daryl was about to tell them to shut it before their arguing drew every walker in the freaking state to them, when he heard it, "Shh," I instructed,

Everyone froze and listened, "I don' here anything Darylina, maybe ya…" Merle's sentence was cut off by a flash of black and white flying from between the trees, white teeth bared. It started stalking dangerously toward Alex and Daryl brought his bow up, he had it in his sights, ready to fire.

"You shoot my dog cowboy, and I shoot you," Came Cori's steady but dangerous voice as she turned the fury in her blue eyes from Alex to Daryl.

The dog continued to snarl at Alex as the Cori and Daryl stood locked in a staring match. "If ya don' want me ta shoot it, call it off," HE finally responded without lowering his bow.

"Tell your lackey to give my bow," She replied evenly, he had to give her credit for standing her ground. Most woman he knew would have either backed down, started begging, or at least crying by now. But here she was, unarmed and alone in the woods, standing up to three armed men.

He exchanged looks with Alex before nodding for him to return her bow. As soon as he lowered his hand she snatched it from him and hooked it over her arm.

"Inara," she said turning to the still growling dog, "Shikiro." The dog growled once more at Alex before shutting its mouth and sitting, patiently waiting for its master's next instruction.

"Shika-what?" Daryl asked giving the strange woman a confused look.

She stared back at him for a moment like he was the weird one, "Shikiro. It means shut-up, in Korean."

This sent Merle into a fit of hysterical laughter, but why he found her comment so amusing was always up for debate, "Yer dog speaks Korean?"

"Well yeah, if someone broke into my home I wouldn't want them being able to tell my dog to shut up, who would expect her to speak a foreign language." She said with a straight face, only the slight twinkle in her betraying that she was messing with them.

Her answered earned another burst of laughter from Merle, "We got a China-man back at camp, when we take ya back to meet Deputy Dumb- ss I'm sure you'll have lots ta talk about," He managed to choke out.

Cori raised an eyebrow before chuckling, "Number one: I'm not going anywhere with ya'll. Number 2: I don't really speak that much Manderin."

Before the words left his mouth, Daryl could tell that his brother's reply wasn't going to change her mind, but if they were lucky it wouldn't end in him getting slapped, or shot. "They all soun' the same ta me sugar," Merle responded with a chuckle.

So today was Daryl's lucky day, he wasn't going to have to pull an arrow out of his brother's knee tonight. She just stared at the men for a moment, "On that note, since you idiots tromping through the woods scared of my dear, I'm leaving."

"Shane said…"

"The good deputy will be cross with us if'n we don' bring ya back with us," Merle cut Alex off, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well find someone else, 'cus it isn't going to be me," She said as she headed off into the woods with the dog following close behind.

"Aw let her go," Daryl instructed as the three watched her go. Alex and Merle turned and started walking in the general direction of camp as he adjusted his crossbow and slung it over his shoulder, "Crazy b!tch."

"So that was the day that started it all," The inn keeper said with a smile as he stood from his spot at the table.

Bill stared at his host for a moment, "What do any of them have to do with Miranda?"

"All in good time, I warned you it was a long story. The events that led to Miranda being settled started with Cori, but without her sister Hope it is questionable whether we would be here," The inn keeper paused for a moment as he gathered everyone's dishes, "Now if you'll excuse you for a moment I need to get desert."


	3. Chapter 2

Hi everyone! Here is our next chapter and the first one written by me. I hope you all like it and please review and tell us what you think! ~ Hope

**Chapter 2: IT and a kidnapping **

"The Next person is definitely very colorful and I think there could never be another person as interesting to meet than her. She was impossible to control and wild." Uncle Merrill commented lightly he carried dessert over to the table.

Hope wandered threw the forest knowing that the large group of berry bushes was close by. She and Cori had found them when they had been out the day before, and it would be more than enough to keep everyone happy, but to ensure there was enough food altogether Cori was out killing innocent forest creatures like Thumper.

Hope hurried out of camp quickly before anyone could tell her to stay on the clearly marked path; carrying a large basket and a pink cameo Walther P99. However along the path there were some mushrooms that would completely help with food supplies, or it would make everyone extra happy because they were "special mushrooms". However because of this Hope left the path and was completely lost after only half an hour of walking.

"Finally! I found you, sweet snackage of goodness!" She announced comically to herself as she marched forward finally seeing her desired destination. "All of these years Cori has always gone on and on about me not being able to find my way out of a tent! I showed her" she mumbled happily even though she was the only person to hear it.

Then as she finished she leaned back, "Wow look at my spoils… or would this be considered booty? Is booty only the correct term when you're a pirate? I miss my dictionary…" She trailed off thinking as she picked the remaining berries. Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes off to the side of the berry patch.

Quickly she was aiming her Walther at the offending bush; but then IT appeared! She couldn't even imagine what it must have been before it found it's way into the woods but now it was disgusting! Hope scrambled back in horror, and fear unable to keep her scream of terror from escaping. Then IT turned and charged at her, turning Hope ran hoping to climb a tree to prevent it from catching her; but as she turned to bolt her thick boot caught on one of the lower branches and she fell and hit her head.

The three men were making there way back to camp with enough rabbits and squirrels for dinner after there odd day when suddenly there was a scream from further in the forest.

"Did you hear that?" Daryl asked stopping and turning towards Alex.

"Do you think it was the little rabbit? I had gotten the feeling she and her watch dog could take care of themselves." Alex answered with a smirk and after making sure Merle was far enough away then continued. "Why; worried bout her? She is pretty for a crazy I guess."

Alex quickly dodged the playful swing that was thrown his way as a response. "Lets go and make sure whoever it was is alright and deal with whatever threat there is." Daryl said and together they caught up to Merle however before they could ask him anything he beat the two to the punch.

"Do ya'll wanna go see if that was just that spunky chick and her rabid dog?" Merle asked seaming also much too excited to see the mystery girl again.

The three of them headed off towards where the scream had come from, quickly picking up pace. Suddenly a little ball of hair, dirt, and who knows what else came and gave a little bark.

"Uh what is that ugly ss thing." Merle said cringing away and holding up his gun about to make a kill shot.

"Merle don't waste your bullet I'll handle it." Daryl said taking aim, as Alex watched the dog thing go in a line to them and back from the area it had come threw back and forth.

"I think it wants to lead us somewhere or some sh!t." Alex said before his old friend could put a bolt in its head. "sides I'm not eating dog." Hoping that he had enough finality in his voice to prevent his supper turning out to be puppy soup.

"All right pansy we will follow it but soon as it even looks at me funny I'm putting it down." Daryl said begrudgingly as they slowly started following the mangy thing.

Suddenly it disappeared and as they reached a clearing filled with bushes. "Stupid dog" Alex grumbled frustrated walking around the clearing with the Dixons. "This is the direction the scream came from. Dumb dog didn't lead us to the right place." He said looking up from his search to Daryl and Merle. However when he took another step he felt my foot connect with something.

"Well well well, we sure are finding a lot of odd little rabbits today boys." Merle crackled looking over the bush as Daryl came over to help Alex check the girl whom he had just kicked.

"It don't look like she got bit, or even scratched." Daryl noted sitting back on his heels looking the girl over.

"But the mutt is definitely hers," Alex said because sure enough sitting faithfully by the girls' side was the dog. Who knows what kind it even was though maybe a chawawa? Not a dog you would expect to survive an apocalypse. "When the Zombies came did all the girls go crazy?" He couldn't help but to add on. First there was the female Hawkeye with green hair and a nose ring and now there was a girl with rainbow hair at least 6 piercing in the one ear. She looked like she belonged in a comic book.

"Looks like it, they all also developed a strange taste in weapons." Daryl answered picking up a pink gun that looked like it would blend in to a five year olds room.

"She must be tripping, look at these shrooms!" Merle said laughing once again, holding up a basket of mushrooms and looking at them as if wondering if mixing them with whatever he was currently on would kill him.

"Not everyone is looking for a trip Merle, besides those are Hen-of-the-woods she was probably going to make soup out of them; and it looks like she fell and hit her head on this rock" Alex said glancing at the basket and then back to the girl and dog. "It looks like the dog has a collar the same color as the gun. It must be hers." He said casually before looking back up to Daryl, it was his first thought to take the girl back to camp she obviously couldn't take care of herself, she wouldn't last much longer. But Daryl would make the call and the right one, years of life lessons had taught Alex that, which is funny to think of now.

"Well Sheriff do good did to bring any survivors back to came and then Miss Legolas told us to find someone else so, it looks like we've found someone else. One who doesn't have a watchdog to back her." Daryl said looking at the girl.

"Whatcha taking your time for boys back up the chick and lets go back to camp!" Merle declared obviously having had enough of staying in one spot.

"Wait, Wait, Wait!" Logan cut in, "So these guys just took this girl back to there camp no questions asked? I could have been a trap. I mean the worst had been bought out in people."

"Yes it wasn't the smartest thing to do, just bringing people home but I don't think Hope could truly plot against someone. At least to hurt them, but on the other hand you never knew what was going on in that girls head." Uncle Merrill

Alex, Glen and Shane, all stood in the smallish tent making sure the girl was settled onto the Cot.

"I appreciate you letting the kid stay in your tent Alex, we weren't sure where to put her" Shane said simply. Shane was the officer who was currently in charge of the camp.

"Do you think she's comfortable?" Glen asked turning to the other two, however before either of them could answer Hope sprang off of the bed and landed on the floor with a thump. Slowly she opened her eyes then blinked them quickly while groaning and holding her head.

"Wow no need to get excited, we were just making sure your still holding up alright you gave us all a little bit of a scare." Glen said kindly.

"Where am I? Who are you? Why am I here?" She said looking up from the floor looking like she was preparing to run.

"Your in our camp, my name is Shane I'm in charge here. Our hunting group we sent out found you earlier today, what happened to you?" Shane asked.

"I'm Glen and this is Alex, he was in the group that found you. Here is a bottle of water, and why don't you get back on the cot. It looks like you may have a concussion. Can I get your name?" Glen said completely ignoring Shane and handing the water to her.

"I need to head back to my group they are going to be worried about me. What time is it?" She asked while climbing back onto the cot as she checked the three of us up and down.

"You have a concussion your not going anywhere." Was the first thing Alex said since he had come into the tent.

"I really don't care what you think! Or what you have to say! When Cori comes and finds out you've kidnapped me you will be soooo sorry!" Hope snapped standing up quickly "It doesn't matter what you do or the fact that you can split into three different people when you want to like some kind of X-man!" She paused her rant holding her head and swaying.

"Is she awake? I washed her puppy!" A young girl named Sophia asked squeezing past Alex and Shane.

"I don't have a dog what are you talking about?" She started looking confused. "OH NO it's gonna eat my brains!" She screeched scrambling away in an almost comical way. However as if just to spite her the small dog jumped onto the cot making her let lose another scream. The immediate answer to this was Daryl and Merle came running in weapons ready.

"Daryl! Merle! Calm down it turns out that this isn't her dog. Figures she is afraid of it." Alex said turning to the two newcomers. In answer the girl on the bead scrunched up her face at him in annoyance.

"So can I keep the puppy?" Sophia asked Hope now ignoring the men who were speaking to each other.

"Yes you can keep and have lots of fun with it sweetheart." Hope answered quickly with a smile and sighed in relief as she took the dog away.

"Ok girly, it's been decided; I'll go get your boyfriend Cori and bring him back to get you. You will be staying here the night." Shane said turning to her.

"I don't remember telling you Cori was my boyfriend; and I didn't decide anything." Hope snapped annoyed.

"That is enough I'm coming with you Shane. Your staying here little girl cuz you seem accident prone and this way you won't get yourself killed." Daryl said looking at Hope sternly "Now what's your name little missy I have a feeling your boyfriend won't like us coming in without your name."

"Cori isn't my boyfriend!" She started to protest but Daryl gave her a amazingly practiced look that made her stop arguing. "Hope… My name is Hope" Hope said giving up

"Alright Hope, you'll stay here and rest in Alex's tent some more and we'll go and get the rest of your group." Shane said taking control again.

"Well I drank your water and I'm in your tent so I guess that breaks two rules. Me telling you where our camp is can't get me into any more trouble than I already am gonna be in." Hope reasoned with a sigh of defeat.


End file.
